SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Readers are always looking for something new to devour. There are many who also want to be readers, but they might need a little push. Consider Books We Love to be a gentle shove. NPR's list of best reads has tons of suggestions for your to-be-read pile, including these novels recommended by our coworkers.
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KALYANI SAXENA, BYLINE: Hi, my name is Kalyani Saxena, and I'm an associate producer with Here & Now. The book that I am going to be talking about today is "The Everlasting" by Alix E. Harrow. This is not a book you're going to get over easily. It's razor-sharp and designed to cut you deeply. You'll be moved. You'll probably cry. And by the end, you'll say something like, thank you for delivering my suffering so beautifully.
This story follows a scholar and a mythical lady knight who have both lived the same story countless times. They're caught in a big, bad historical time loop. It's a book about storytelling and how nationalism cannot exist without the support of a well-told myth. It's a thrashing examination of how we choose our heroes. And most importantly, to me, at least, it's a love story about two people who learn over and over again that they're doomed in every possible way. But still, they choose each other anyway. What exquisite agony wonderfully delivered.
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DENISE COUTURE, BYLINE: Hi. I'm Denise Couture, a senior editor at NPR. The book I'd like to recommend is "Coded Justice" by Stacey Abrams. The novel is about a well-intentioned entrepreneur who harnesses artificial intelligence to help American veterans get the best health care possible. What could go wrong? For a start, murder. Are the robots behind it?
It's the third novel in the Avery Keene legal thriller series. Now Keene is an investigator at a law firm, and she's been assigned to look into the AI company. Author Stacey Abrams says that every Avery Keene novel starts with the questions she herself has. This one began with two questions. How does AI work? And why are we so bad at health care? I like this novel partly because it's ethically and morally nuanced. Even if you have little interest in either question, the novel is still a compelling read.
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EMIKO TAMAGAWA, BYLINE: This is Emiko Tamagawa, senior producer for Here & Now. One of my favorite books this year was Emily Itami's "Kakigori Summer." Reading it, I was transported to a hot summer in coastal Japan, where three-half JAPANESE sisters gather at the family home after one of them has become a national scandal. What rings so true for me is that it not only explores the shifting dynamics of sisterhood but also probes what it's like to be a perpetual outsider in a place that you think of as home. The book is a summer read that doesn't melt away but continues to resonate after you put it down.
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IVY BUCK, BYLINE: Hey. I'm Ivy Buck, the current Petra Mayer fellow on the arts and culture desk. I'm here to recommend Silvia Moreno-Garcia's "The Bewitching." But first, I must give a shoutout to the late, great, one and only Petra Mayer, who founded Books We Love. Thank you, Petra, for championing book nerds everywhere and for creating this wonderful celebration of the reading which defines each year.
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BUCK: "The Bewitching" is a perfect mystery novel filled with plenty of good old New England spook. The story follows Minerva, a graduate student of the fictional Stoneridge College who studies the life of Beatrice Tremblay, a Stoneridge alum from the 1930s. Beatrice was a writer of macabre literature. Think along the lines of Mary Shelley or H.P. Lovecraft, who may have experienced a haunting herself. As Minerva dives deep into Beatrice's history, she finds herself in a trifecta of bewitchings dating back generations. You'll have to read the book to find out how, or if, Minerva makes it out unscathed. But what I can tell you is that "The Bewitching" has something for everybody. It's a gorgeous and chilling tale, perhaps best read with the lights kept on.
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JUSTINE KENIN, BYLINE: I'm Justine Kenin. I'm an editor on All Things Considered. The book I Love this year is "The Life Cycle Of The Common Octopus." It's a novel by Emma Knight. It is a coming-of-age book of sorts, mostly set in Scotland. And the main character, Pen, is sort of coming into herself in college, and she has this great group of girlfriends, and she's learning about herself but also uncovering the mystery of her parents and their divorce. And because she's named for this actual mystery writer in Scotland, she ends up with that family, goes to their castle in Scotland. So it has the sort of layers of mystery and coziness and coming-of-age. I just can't recommend it enough.
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SIMON: Those books again - "The Life Cycle Of The Common Octopus," "The Bewitching," "Kakigori Summer," "Coded Justice" and "The Everlasting." And for more Books We Love, you can head to npr.org/bestbooks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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